Last Dance With Momma
by Eileen
Summary: A bittersweet little Toad songfic.


Last Dance With Momma

Last Dance With Momma

(Disclaimer: Characters belong to Marvel Comics/Kids WB. The song "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" is an old Jim Croce number, c. Saja Records.)

(A/N: This is what happens when you watch cartoons and listen to CD's at the same time. Anyway, it's something to read till I finish the next chapter of "Mindshadow", in which Toad will play a prominent part. Read, review, and enjoy!)

Todd Tolensky was bored.

He was all alone in the house the Brotherhood members shared. Everyone else had gone out on errands of their own. But nobody wanted him along. All the cartoons were over, the computer wasn't connecting for some reason, and there was nothing to eat (Mystique had gone food shopping for the fourth time that week.).

Suddenly an idea occurred to him. He could "borrow" Lance's new CD player for a little while, couldn't he? He wouldn't be going anywhere with it, after all, and it's not like he'd ever find out.

He snuck into Lance's room and snagged the CD player. It was a really nice one, with all the bells and whistles. Including skip protection, so he didn't have to tiptoe around while he was carrying it.

He went back to the living room and turned the power on. There was a CD already in it, and as soon as the song started he knew it.

"Bad Bad Leroy Brown." One of his mother's favorite songs. 

_"Well, the south side of Chicago_

_is the baddest part of town,_

_and if you go down there_

_you better just beware _

_of a man name of Leroy Brown."_

_ _

In the evenings, after dinner but before he went to bed, she'd put the stereo on, and they'd dance around. She was probably a little drunk, he realized now; she stopped off and had a few drinks at the bar on her way home from work, and then had one or two with dinner. But the real drinking didn't start until he was in bed. He was only six years old at the time anyway, he had no idea.

He could see her, holding his tiny hands, her blonde hair streaming out behind her, her face flushed with excitement, whirling him around and around their tiny apartment, singing along with Jim Croce.

_"Now Leroy, born in trouble;_

_You see, he stands about six-foot-four._

_All the downtown ladies_

_Call him Tree Top Lover,_

_All the men just call him Sir._

_And he's Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown,_

_Baddest man in the whole damn town._

_Badder than old King Kong,_

_Meaner than a junk yard dog."_

_ _

He started to sway back and forth in time to the song, remembering how the floors were so thin that every time they got going, Mrs. Minnelli downstairs would bang her cane against her ceiling. "Turn that damn noise down!" she would yell up at them.

Momma never took any notice of her. "She's just an old grouch, Toddy," she said in that lovely English voice of hers. "We won't let her spoil our fun, will we?"

And Todd, unaware that their fun would be over for good in just a few months, would always squeal,

"Again! Again, Momma, again!"

Momma turned up the stereo and sang even louder, and there wasn't a thing Mrs. Minnelli could do about it.

_"Now Leroy, he's a gambler,_

_and he likes his fancy clothes,_

_and he likes to wear his diamond rings_

_under everybody's nose._

_He got a custom Continental,_

_He got an El Dorado too;_

_He got a .32 gun_

_In his pocket for fun,_

_He got a razor in his shoe._

_ _

He started singing along with the chorus, just like Momma used to do.

_"And he's Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown,_

_Baddest man in the whole damn town._

_Badder than old King Kong,_

_Meaner than a junk yard dog._

_ _

_Now Friday, bout a week ago,_

_Leroy's shooting dice,_

_And at the end of the bar_

_There's a girl name of Doris,_

_And ooh, that girl looked nice._

_Well, he cast his eyes upon her,_

_And the trouble soon began:_

_Leroy Brown learned his lesson_

_Bout messing _

_With the wife of a jealous man._

_ _

_And he's Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown,_

_Baddest man in the whole damn town._

_Badder than old King Kong,_

_Meaner than a junk yard dog._

_ _

Todd didn't know where he was anymore. All he could see was Momma, holding his hands, whirling around and around and singing at the top of her lungs. It was the best time of his young life.

_Well, those two men took to fighting,_

_And when they pulled him from the floor,_

_Leroy looked like a jigsaw puzzle_

_With a couple of pieces lost._

_ _

_And he's Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown,_

_Baddest man in the whole damn town._

_Badder than old King Kong,_

_Meaner than a junk yard dog._

_ _

_And he's Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown,_

_Baddest man in the whole damn town._

_Badder than old King Kong,_

_Meaner than a junk yard dog._

_ _

As the song ended, he looked up to see Mystique and the others in the doorway.

"What the hell are you doing with my CD player?" Lance demanded, ripping it out of his hands. The rest of the Brotherhood just stood there in stunned silence.

Todd didn't say anything for a minute. He felt tears slipping down his cheeks. Not because he was being picked on, he was used to that; he was crying because he hadn't realized until now just how much he missed Momma.

He slipped the headphones off and handed them to Lance. "You got good taste in music," he said, as he went to help with the groceries.

Lance opened up the case and looked at the CD inside. "This ain't mine!"

"Huh?" Todd looked at him. "It was in there when I found it!"

"Well, it's not mine." Lance stalked off to his room.

"Well, what the--?" Todd began, then stopped dead in his tracks. 

Nah, it couldn't be.

Could it?

He looked up at the ceiling. "Momma?"

_ _


End file.
